The Marked Son (Keepers of Life) (28 page)

I pull out my sword and slice at the tree limb, freeing him. He falls and lies there, sucking in air, fast and deep, his face etched with panic.

I thrust out my hand. “Come on.” After I pull him to his feet, he grabs his gun, and we sprint down the path. Five of Navar’s men spring out at us. Swords flash. Powers hum.

A shrill whistle pierces my ear and I see Bodog in the distance. He raises his ax. I’ve got only a brief second to swing myself and Jason into a tree before a loud bang rocks the forest, and the ground shakes with enough force to destroy an entire city. The ax delivers an electric shock that topples everyone else to the ground, where they lie, stunned. I look back to Bodog, but he’s gone.

“Let’s go,” I yell at Jason. We drop to the ground and take off. All too soon, the forest rumbles to life, striking out at us. Once it’s put in motion, committed to an order, I can’t stop nature from doing its worst. Navar’s men prove masters at manipulating their surroundings, forcing us to go on the defensive.

One. Two. Three. Jason and I bring Navar’s thugs down with sword and gun. The remaining two pull back, surprised at our ability to defend ourselves.

One of them calls down a large bird. When it makes a sharp pass, I see a curved beak and wide wingspan. Instead of a feathered tail, a barbed whip snaps and cuts Jason along his cheek. On its retreat, the talons swipe at my head, and I dive out of the way.

Jason dabs at the blood dripping down his cheek, and glares at the half-bird, half-lizard. “What’s with half-breeds and this place? If you’re not good enough, neither is that thing.”

He flips his gun into position and aims. The bird/lizard dodges in and out of the trees. Jason stands firmly in place and follows its course.

As he hunts his flying attacker, one of the remaining men appears, and face-plants me into the ground. He means to smother me. I slip beneath the earth, rise up behind him, and tap his shoulder. He turns.

“Surprise!” I say, then slam him against a tree and call down the branches. They coil around him, binding his torso, limbs, and head. They squeeze. Tighter. Tighter. Bones crack, then, only the hush of a life, gone. I don’t look at what I’ve done. Instead, I scour the area for others. In the distance, I see plenty. They slide through the high branches and ride earthwaves toward us. Worse, the bird/lizard is back.

“Jason,” I call.

“Done,” he answers, a second before the gun fires. The creature drops from the sky, and in the next instant, one of the two closest men appears behind Jason. Before I can say anything, Jason rams the butt of his gun into the man’s face, knocking him out with one blow.

From out of the forest, an arrow whistles past my head and lodges in a nearby tree.

I wrench the shaft out, spin it in my fingers, and heave it toward its maker. The wind catches it, and I guide the twirling shaft to its mark, felling the man. I grab Jason and build an earthwave beneath him.

“Stay low,” I yell, and we take off, zipping in between trees and slipping beneath branches. My heart slams against my ribs like the deep beat of a heavy metal drummer. I can hear it in my ears and feel it pulse down to my soles.

Jason shoulders his rifle, whips his torso around, and shoots. I shout for him to duck. He barely misses being hit by a low branch.

A huge tree with massive, above-ground roots appears ahead. I jump over, but Jason is too slow and slams into the heavy root, flips head over heels, and lands on his back. I still my wave and rush back to him. He blinks up at me, the fire in his eyes doused with a healthy dose of pain. I take out a pinch of Bodog’s black powder, spit on it, and toss the stuff in the air. It turns to a thick heavy smoke, obscuring our exact whereabouts.

I bend down. “You okay?”

“No,” he rasps, his breath ripping in and out of his pale lips.

Although we’re hidden at the moment by thick smoke and protected by a massive tree and its thick base of roots, it’s only a matter of time before we’re found. “You’ve got to get up. We can’t stay here.”

He nods and grunts and struggles to rise. I slip my arm around him. His weight sinks onto me like a drunken frat boy as he lurches to his feet.

“Good?” I ask, steadying him as best I can.

“Yeah.” He throws me a muscle-bound grin. “Better. Got the wind—”

A sharp whoosh slices the air. Jason grunts and staggers forward, an arrow lodged in his back. He hangs on me, his eyes searching mine. His gaze slowly melts
under
the shock of being hit.

Another arrow cuts through the disintegrating smoke screen and spins toward us. My arm tightens around him. I try to move Jason, but he’s an immovable rock of thick muscle and dense bone. The arrowhead slams through my hand and into his back, pinning me to Jason in an odd embrace. Pain shoots up my arm and into my brain.

A surprised gurgle erupts from Jason’s throat. He begins to slide to his knees, bringing me with him. The burn of his weight hanging from the arrow has me gasping, and I clumsily grope for the shaft. When I find it, we’ve sunk to the ground, and his skin has turned a waxy, pale hue. The blood seeping from the corner of his mouth glimmers deep crimson.

His gaze finds mine. “Oh, shi—”

The word is snatched from his throat. He shudders, his skin soaked in a cold sweat. I grab the shaft and with a quick twist, it snaps. I yank my injured hand along the shortened stick, freeing me from Jason. Blood gushes from my hand. Without my support, Jason falls sideways on the ground. Another arrow zings by and nicks my shoulder. I duck and pull Jason under the entwined tree roots. It won’t be long until the
firsts
find the right angle to fire a storm of arrows at us.

I bend over Jason. His eyes are wide, his face a stunned mask of disbelief.

I ignore my injuries and grab his chin. “Don’t quit. Not now.”

He blinks. “I-I nearly made it,” he whispers.

“Come
on
.” My fingers dig so hard into his chin, I know I’m leaving bruises. “Get up.”

Another arrow embeds in a nearby tree.

“Go,” he says, pushing at my shoulder, his fingers soft and easy, his muscles lax. He’s deflating before my eyes.

“I can’t leave you.”

“Yes, you can. You have to.” His indrawn breath shakes his ribs like a caged gorilla. His lips draw down, thin, blue and urgent. “No point…in staying.”

I won’t abandon him. I call down a tree limb, but it struggles to rise. It’s like the earth has already accepted Jason, and it’s a tug-o-war I’m destined to lose. “Work with me, Jason.”

That mischievous smile that usually warns of trouble flickers across his face. “Be safe.” His ragged breath slips out on a soft rush. No sound of an inward breath follows.

“Do
not
give up,” I cry. But even as I beg him, his eyes cloud, and the last hint of life drains from his cheeks.

“Jason.” I shake him. He’s unresponsive.

I should never have brought him here. He takes too many risks. Lives too close to the edge. I knew something bad would happen, but I chose to close my eyes to it, wanting my own happiness above anything. Willing to risk anything—anyone—to get it.

An arrow finds my hiding place and cuts its way into my shoulder, felling me to my side. All sound mutes. My vision narrows into pinholes of light. I stare over at Jason, at the peaceful look on his pale face. At the life I helped destroy. I don’t feel like me anymore. I don’t know who I am or what I’ve become. I touch his blood-encrusted hair, and my hand glows bright.

Live
.

Live.

The glow eases, but he lies just as still, just as pale. My throat tightens on a need so desperate, I can barely breathe. I pull my hand away, hating myself for what I’ve done, for the damage that no amount of magic can fix. “I’m sorry.”

An epiphany wells inside me, hard and cold and solemn. When I find Leo, I’ll make him leave. I’ll send him and his grandfather back. This is my fight. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t create it. I’m the one who has to clean it up, and I won’t allow Leo to risk his life for me. I have precious few friends. I won’t lose another one.

Sound abruptly screams back into existence and throbs against my ears. Arrows continue to make their progress toward me. I call on the tree and command its roots to surround Jason, to shelter him within its earthy legs. When I can no longer see him, I touch the nearest root. The grit of dirt slips through my fingers, and I balk at having to leave him in a faceless, nameless grave.

“I’ll come back,” I vow. “I won’t leave you here.”

I stagger to my feet, wincing at the pain of even the simplest movement. The arrow in my shoulder has lodged itself against a nerve ending, and every time I move, it tweaks my hand and chest as if Sidon still holds his branding iron to my skin. I grab the shaft and pull. My vision flashes, and I fight back a deep scream. When the arrow rips out, my throat is trashed, and my feet are unsteady. I sag against the tree. Nothing compares to this agony.

Yet through the pain, I hear something worse. The snuffle of a beast. The buzz of a swarm. I turn and see a multitude of
pux
gathering, and beneath them, a pack of double-headed wolves, their fur quills sharply pointed. On seeing me, their hackles rise. I dart to the right as a volley of quills whizz though my shadow and miss me.

Be safe
, Jason had said. The probability of that isn’t looking so good at the moment. My injuries have sapped most of my strength. Pulsing darkness and light distract my vision. Objects blur and focus at random, like I’ve walked into a funhouse full of distorted mirrors.

I’ve got to concentrate. My feet stumble over themselves and plow me into a nearby tree. The bark scratches into my palms, burning the rawness of my wound. My mind screams out for Kera. I’m scared I won’t make it. That I won’t get to see her one last time.

The
pux
descend on me, their hands brutal in their attack. Though I bat them away, I’m not fast enough, and cuts quickly checker my skin. I can’t believe I’m losing this battle to a bunch of annoying gnats. It actually pisses me off in a way nothing else has. With the last of my energy, I call out for the power thrumming beneath my feet.

My body stiffens. My vision tints black, muting even the smallest amount of light. I no longer feel a part of this earth. Something big is clawing its way through me and is desperate to break free.

A wave of white hot energy pulses from my every pore, arching my body like a tightly-strung bow. My spirit clutches at my body, fighting the power that would strip them apart. A second later, my spirit slams back into me, and I double over, gasping for breath.

The light subsides. My vision clears. The forest is quiet. I’m weak, and I thrust out my hand toward a tree for support. Ash crumbles beneath my fingers. Everywhere I look, I see scorch marks and death—the tiny bodies of burnt
pux
, the sizzling quills of the hounds. A few of Navar’s warriors, charred and smoking, sprawl face up within my circle of devastation.

My legs give way and I collapse to the ground, my eyes wide with horror.

Odder still, my pain is gone. I inspect my hand. There’s a scar, but no open wound. My shoulder as well. Though my body is healed, I don’t have inner peace. What has happened to me, that I can kill so easily? Why haven’t any of the other
firsts
used such power against me?

As the last of the raw energy fades, I sense Kera’s anxiety. Her fear climbs to a new level, one that urges me to my feet.

I’ve got to find her.

The End is Near

The desire to find Kera brings out another energy ribbon, this one a trail of her passing. It shoots down the path, and I push after it. Soon the burnt circle gives way to green foliage. Thin, low-lying branches slap at me as if condemning my power. I can’t fix what’s done. I can only be more aware, and use my power more wisely. I send up a silent vow, promising to keep my powers in check. The thought seems to soothe the forest, and I make my way easily through the overgrown path. I near the barrier and the ribbon fades. I stop and listen.

Pop, Leo and the girl from Faldon’s house emerge from of the woods. Leo motions me over. “Navar and his men are close.”

“What’s she doing here?” I ask without looking at Catgirl.

“Her name’s Lucinda. She brought help.”

“What kind of help?”

“Does it matter?” The purr with which she says it irritates me.

I finally look at her, see the light armor she wears, and I’m not impressed. “Everyone says I shouldn’t trust you.”

“Then don’t.” One moment her hand is empty, the next she holds my sword. “But don’t let your mistrust stop you from taking what’s rightfully yours.”

“We need back up,” Leo says.

He’s right. We don’t have a choice. I grudgingly take my sword and strap it on.

Pop searches the woods behind me. “Where’s Jason?”

I’m still having a hard time believing what happened. The words stick in my throat, halfway between disbelief and reality. An irrational thought—if I don’t speak it aloud, maybe it won’t be true—keeps me silent.

“He’s dead,” Lucinda says, her voice flat and brutal.

I cringe. I can’t meet their gaze.

“Is he?” Leo asks when I remain silent.

I glance up, briefly meet his gaze, then look away. It’s all I’m willing to do. Leo shifts uncomfortably, his height seeming to shrink as the news sinks in. Pop’s condemning eyes heat my skin, but I’ve got my own question. “Where’s Kera?”

It’s now Pop’s turn to look away.

“I’ll show you.” Leo starts pushing through the brush. “It’s a miracle we even found Pop. We figured you and Jason would be along pretty quick, so Lucy, here, volunteered to help us get safely to the wall. We were almost there when Navar and his goons showed, and before we knew it, they’d caught Bodog and Kera.”

“She was stupid to lag behind, mewling after her love.” Lucinda catches Leo’s arm and rubs her head against his shoulder. “I can’t help the hopeless.”

Leo pushes her firmly away. “Stay off. I mean it.”

The air changes the closer we get to the wall. It doesn’t take a genius to see why—people, clutching all kinds of weapons, from long sticks to knives to the occasional sword, stand scattered among the trees, staying hidden, but focusing on the commotion near the wall. “Who are they?”

Lucinda sniffs. “Your kind of people.”

“They’re the ones that nut-job fiancé of Kera’s is hunting down and killing,” Leo says. “Lucinda told them it was time to fight.”

“Navar’s time is up,” she purrs.

Pop signals for us to stop, his hand firmly on his rifle. Voices, raised in anger, reach us. The smack of skin meeting skin and the cry of a woman chill me.

We ease closer, determined to regain an element of surprise in this fight. It won’t be easy. A dozen or more soldiers stand in front of the wall. Four men, swords drawn, faces hard, surround Bodog. Granel and Faldon stand with an older man whose hands clench the lapels of his own greatcoat. I’m surprised the fabric doesn’t rip. He takes a hesitant step toward Kera, who sags in Navar’s grasp, crying.

“It’s over, this little game of yours,” Navar says with an unattractive sneer. “He’s dead by now.”

She strains away from him, looking in the direction of the blast that charred a portion of the forest. “I don’t believe you.”

“Why? Because he’s
special
?” Disgust thickens Navar’s voice, and he pulls her close, his fingers digging into her arm. “I can’t believe you would pervert yourself by touching him.”

She slaps him, and the clearing stills.

“He’s bewitched you,” he hisses, his fingers digging deeper. He gives her a shake. “I’m trying to save you.”

“There’s no need.”

He turns and motions toward the man in the great coat. “Tell her, Hadrain,” Navar jerks Kera’s arm, forcing her to turn her shivering, wet body toward Hadrain. “Listen to your father.”

Why would Kera’s father stand by and let Navar abuse his daughter? I’m disgusted by his weakness. Do they really give up their free will when they make a promise, or is it easier not to get involved?

Hadrain, his hands still clasped to his lapels, approaches. Navar releases Kera and she rushes to him. He wraps her in his arms, presses his cheek to hers and whispers loud enough for me to hear. “Whatever you thought was real, it’s not. He’s gone, my child. He wasn’t meant for this world.”

“What about me?” she asks on a ragged whisper.

His face grows taut and his embrace more fierce. “Hush. You’ll be queen. It’s what the people want.”

Faldon steps forward. “No one blames you. The boy is at fault. Whatever has happened, he’s the one we blame.”

Kera pulls out of her father’s arms. “He’s to blame for being born? He’s innocent.”

“His power was wild,” Navar says. “He would’ve destroyed us all.”

“You’re wrong. He’s not like that.”

Navar grits his teeth. “Do not presume to tell me, woman. The charm his father used to ensnare the woman had great power. When it failed, it poisoned them both, sickened their minds, and made the boy unworthy of love.”

He steps back, pleased with his assertion, but when he looks at Kera, her chin rises higher. “Then how is it that I love him?”

My heart swells, but fear closely follows.

Kera’s father steps back as if hit. “No, Kera.”

A loud, animalistic growl echoes through the trees, startling even the crickets into silence. All eyes turn to Navar.

His stance is aggressive, and his hand pulses on the hilt of his sword. He twists his body toward Faldon. “A queen who loves another. That’s my prize?”

Faldon’s features quickly soften. The once booming voice condenses into a simpering pool of appeasement. “It’s her pure heart, my lord. She loves for she has known nothing but love. Rest assured, Kera is your equal in every way. She will make an excellent queen.”

“My equal?” Navar whips his gaze around the assembled
firsts
—though none meet his gaze, a few heads nod. A burst of angry power pulses from him, and he roars, “I have no equal!”

“Whoa,” I say. “This isn’t good.”

“You lead.” Leo says. “We’ll follow.”

I don’t deserve him as my friend. “This is my fight now.”

Leo’s brows lower. “Don’t go there.”

“You need to go home, okay?” I look beyond him to Pop. He’d been right. This problem exists because of me, and only I can fix it. I won’t let the
first
half of me win. “Go straight for the break in the wall. It shouldn’t take much to push through. Don’t wait for us. If I’m lucky, we’ll be right behind you. Just make sure the both of you get out.”

Pop nods.

Navar roams the clearing, his anger burning the ground beneath his feet. He pauses near Bodog. I can almost see the evil intent churning his thoughts. He moves straight to Faldon. “What do we do with those who stand in our way?”

Granel steps forward. “Kill them, my lord.”

The ease with which he says it causes Faldon to flinch.

“You don’t agree?” Navar’s words rip into Faldon like a hawk’s talons.

The sage hardly glances at Bodog, but there’s fear in his eyes. “What the king desires, he’s given.”

Bodog whimpers. Kera takes a step forward, but her father grabs her arm. Heated whispers fly between them.

Navar straightens to his full height. “Good. There’s no shame in death. And though I don’t search to deliver the final blow, I won’t shy from its calling. A king is only as strong as the loyalty of those he governs. I will have that loyalty, one way or the other.”

From behind one of the trees near mine, a red-headed woman signals Lucinda. Catgirl turns to me. “Everyone’s in place. If they see much more, they’ll be frightened away.”

It’s now or never. I send Kera that thought as clearly as I can, hoping she can hear me.

Kera’s stance suddenly grows alert. Almost immediately, she pinpoints my hiding place as if I’m standing, waving my hands in the air. She shoots a regretful glance in her father’s direction, and slowly begins to back away. Her father reaches for her.

She shakes her head.

He looks to Navar, but Kera turns and runs before he can say anything.

“Now,” I cry, and leap forward. When I draw my sword, it bursts into flame.

Chaos erupts. Lucinda and the others charge into the clearing, their shouts echoing through the forest. Bodog spins into his captors, taking their legs out from beneath them, felling them to the dirt. I dart toward Kera and take her hand. Her eyes light up, and I know she feels the same way I feel when we’re together. Like I’m whole. Like I matter.

We closely dog Pop’s and Leo’s retreat to the wall. I swing my sword, fending off anyone who dares to come near. Before me, Pop has transformed into a ninja, taking down Navar’s men one and two at a time. He’s ferocious, kicking and slamming guys like a black belt fighter, popping off rounds from his rifle, and wielding it like a club when the need arises.

The air crackles with Lucinda’s magic. Her hair and clothes whip around her in a frenzy of power as she lunges toward her prey. Men turn and run from her bizarre game of tag, knowing if they’re caught, their lives are instantly forfeit.

The fighting intensifies. Leo slingshots the exploding balls, ripping through Navar’s defenses. Even so, it’s clear the cave people don’t have the skills the full-blooded
firsts
have, and they’re taking heavy losses.

Bodog snatches his ax from one of the men who’d captured him—a dead man, now—and waves us forward. With a deep cry, he takes his weapon and slams it into the wall, busting open a hole as big as he is. Mist swirls out. Its fingers poke at my eyes and muffle my ears.

Kera and I pass Pop, who turns and fires his gun. A nearby man drops to his knees, wounded.

Leo’s almost to the tear. He kneels, rotates the last of the metal balls Bodog gave him until the spikes pop free, slips it in the sling, and lets the ball fly. The ball explodes, but before he can get up, he’s tackled by one of Navar’s men.

Lucinda, all storm angry, suddenly appears. She grabs the soldier by the neck and whirls, grabbing another soldier whose coming to his friend’s aide. In an instant, they’re gone. I barely have time to register what happened before she reappears and yells at Leo to go. He doesn’t hesitate and lunges forward, disappearing into the mist.

As soon as he’s gone, the charge whipping through Lucinda vanishes, like a power switch suddenly turned off. She throws me her crazy chick smile that makes my skin crawl and saunters off, abandoning the battle without a second thought.

Without the
lutine
, very little holds Navar and his men back. We have to leave, and fast.

I step close to Kera and grab her shoulders. “Come on.”

She resists my pressure to turn and go. Her attention is centered on the battle unfolding behind me. Horror glistens in her eyes. I call her name more than once, and it takes her a moment before she reacts.

“We’re losing,” she whispers. “My friends are dying. The rest are running away.”

I know what she’s thinking, and I can’t believe it. The only thing I’ve wanted, ever dreamed of having, is slipping away from me. My fingers tighten, probably bruising her shoulders. I want to shake her, snap her back to reality. We never would’ve won. Navar had men and experience on his side. All we had for a brief second was a bunch of cave people and a crazy
lutine
who, once Leo was safe, abandoned us.

Blinking back her tears, she actually says the unthinkable. “I can’t go.”